Pay Rate for Freelance Articles

I'm hoping to get some input from the braintrust on something I don't have much experience in.

I have the opportunity to write short (200 to 400 words) articles on potential college sports recruits for a new website. These articles are relatively easy to write and detail the schools recruiting the athlete, and the factors involved in the recruitment.

What I'm wondering is what a fair rate for these articles would be. I have minimal experience in this area, and have heard anything from $10 to $50 from friends. For what it's worth, I think the total time to produce this content would be less than an hour per article, from calling the recruit to finishing the article.

OK, if it takes less than an hour, start to finish $20-25 is going to be pretty damn good.

If it involves travelling to a game or practice, sitting for three hours and then writing, you may want to ask for a little more.

In the end, it's like anything else, you get what you can negotiate and some places are going to pay more than othes. I've walked away from freelance assignments because the compensation just wasn't worth the time I would have to put in to put out a respectable article.

I think you might be underestimating how long it takes to do these stories. Writing might go quickly, but everything that comes beforehand -- reporting, fact-checking, reaching the athlete by phone, transcribing -- might take longer than you think.

If you're writing about colleges and recruiting, you can't afford to make errors.

Don't do it for less than $50. And if you have years of experience, make it $100 a pop.
I'm not kidding.

here's a trend I'm noticing ... i'm getting the gamer/second day follow 2-story package offered a lot more. The two-day total is slightly less than if I filed two game stories, but definitely worth the time.